The Darkness Within
by Wingbeats on the Wind
Summary: Rewrite of my previous story under the same name.  Hollyleaf went in to the tunnels to end the pain. The one thing she didn't count on was surviving... Rated T to be safe.
1. Prolouge

**The official rewritten The Darkness Within! I like the storyline, but I epically failed with the other. This is going to be like the first one, just written better. (I hope)**

**P.S., I came up with the idea for this just after Hollyleaf went in to the tunnels. If it coincides with the actual series to much, well, not my fault.**

The gray tom slipped through the trees, full of a crush of different emotions. He _loved _Squirrelflight, even after all she had done for him. He smashed a paw down on a mouse that skittered across his path. With a quiet snarl he sank his teeth in to his prey, tearing the life from it. His claws sprang out and he was ripping into the still-warm flesh, taking his anger out on the scrap of fur. Why did Squirrelflight have to do this to him?

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><p>The night-pelted warrior raced through the forest, following the invisible trail that would surely hold the only hope for her and her clan.<p>

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><p>When the gray tom reached the stream, he lifted his head to stare at the sunset, as red as the fire that had consumed the Thunderclan camp. It wasn't the fault of the kits, really, but he needed to make her understand what she had done to him, how she had reached into his chest and ripped out his heart with her cruel ginger claws.<p>

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><p>A flicker of doubt pulsed through the hunter as she neared her prey. Surely this wasn't in the warrior code? <em>The Clan comes first. <em>She remembered the teachings of her mentor, Brackenfur, once in the forest, in better times. This was helping the Clan. She hardened her heart and redoubled her speed. Her prey was close.

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><p>The tom widened his eyes in shock as the shadow detached itself from the trees and darted at him.<p>

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><p>She leaped at the startled gray tom, claws stretched wide. He didn't have time, she could see.<p>

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><p>He tried to bring his claws up, but he didn't have time. He stared in to the green eyes of his attacker as she smashed in to him. He lost his footing.<p>

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><p>She ducked behind him and sank her teeth in to the back of his neck, tasting the warm gush of blood. He convulsed, and she let his body slip in to the stream.<p>

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><p>He sank deeper in to the dark water, his life flowing out of his neck. He could see the twinkle of the first star through the rippling water. He felt his life drift away from his body rushing downstream, then with a jolt he detached completely from his heavy, sodden body and floated into the evening sky.<p>

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><p>She washed the blood off her paws, watching as the water turned pink before being swept away. Her clan was safe, and that was what mattered.<p>

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><p>..Later..<p>

The silence stretched on for too long as she looked in to her brother's sightless blue eyes, and beside him, the other one's sharp amber ones. Then she whisked around and dived in to the tunnel as the rocks shook free of the roof behind her, sealing her fate.

**So yeah, that's the new prolouge. Please review.**


	2. Rockfall

Dark soil flew in to her eyes as a shadowy rock smashed in to the ground in front of Hollyleaf. The light from the opening behind her was almost obscured by the falling rocks. She leaped over the boulder and tried to dodge another spray of silt.

A rabbit darted out of a hole in the wall in front of her, and let out a squeal, quickly cut off as a pile of dirt from the tunnel roof fell on it. Hollyleaf leaped out of the way and yowled as a rock crushed her tail. She turned and desperately tried to yank it out, but rocks were falling all around her. Another rock rolled into her and almost crushed her, but finally, with a loud crack and a burst of pain, she pulled herself free. Slipping around the rocks, she pulled her useless hind leg and tail around a bend. She couldn't outpace the collapsing tunnel.

"Quick! In here!" A shadowy form beckoned her in to a niche in the wall. Hollyleaf pulled herself over to it and then collapsed. She couldn't go on. Ice cold teeth sank in to her scruff as the darkness in the tunnel became absolute and she could see no more. She could feel her paws dragging along on the ground. She tried to shriek in pain whenever her injured leg went over a stone, but her voice was fading and she could only manage a thin moan.

Her paws were as cold as the cat that carried her. She felt the ground smooth out and then the cat carrying her simply vanished. Then there were voices all around, then quick paws feeling her fur, then nothing.

**So... Yeah. Tell me what you think of it!**


	3. Crushed

**I only have one reviewer! I'll give you catnip if you review...**

Hollyleaf once thought that Starclan controlled her. But not anymore. As she sank deeper into herself, it was the pain that burned though her ruined body that was the controller. Her heartbeat sped up in tempo with the pain's pawsteps. With every new surge of agony, she retreated farther in to herself. And something was egging it on, something rubbing her leg. She tried to hiss at it to stop, but she couldn't unclench her jaw. Was this truly Starclan? A place of such darkness and pain?

She couldn't bear to think the other thing. She had killed, yes, but in defense of the warrior code. Was that enough to condemn her to the Dark Forest?

Was it Ashfur's blood she could taste on her tounge, or her own? She remembered the pain in his icy blue eyes as he slipped away. He hadn't headed to Starclan, she was sure.

Pain shot through her, and she snapped her eyes open with a screech of pain. It was far too bright for her eyes, and she promptly shut them.

"Are you awake, cat? Can you hear me?"

Hollyleaf struggled against the strange voice. She was supposed to be _dead!_ She wanted to be dead! It would be so much simpler, so why did they insist on keeping her alive?

"Has she said anything?"

It was a clear voice, and something about it soothed Hollyleaf. She relaxed back in to her old position, trying not to yowl. Her leg hurt so badly.

"Sky Shard, hold her down. I need to splint this leg."

"Oh, did Fluttering Bat bring the willow?"

"Yes."

"Good."

The words sounded strange, unaided by the fact that Hollyleaf could hardly comprehend them. Her jaws unlocked again without her trying when her leg snapped back in to place.

The pain burned her, scalded her fur and left her gasping. Something was holding her down, keeping her from writhing. Then the soothing voice again.

"Have you done her tail yet?"

"What does it look like?"

"Ah. You've done well, Lonely Star. Perhaps it is time that we adopt the method of the clans, as so few of us know enough to heal someone like her."

"The other's would object, we've lived like this for..."

His words faded out for Hollyleaf as a fresh wave of pain raced through her body.

She heard a gasp.

"Quick, fetch cobwebs! Fluttering Bat for more willow!"

And then the darkness rolled over her eyes again, sealing her in night.

**I'll try too update this one more often, too. Tell me what you think of it!**


	4. Threats

It was strange, the way one could walk on clouds in their dreams. As Hollyleaf slipped through the silvery trees, she felt as if all of her wounds had disappeared. She wanted to stay like this forever. She pounced on a shadowy mouse, purring as it tickled her paws. She let it dart in to the brambles; now was not the time for a hunt.

Her form darted along, as if she was following a scent trail. As she reached the edge of the forest, some instinct told her to hide. She slid under a bush, ears pricked. In front of her, there were voices. She could see a meadow, and all around it were the cats of Starclan, bright and vibrant in the center, but farther out, the cats began to fade.

And right on the edge of the onlookers, in the front, was a dark gray cat who's pelt she recognized. But it couldn't be.

Ashfur was an evil cat, one who wanted to destroy the clans. So how could he be sitting here, in the middle of a circle of his ancestors? He turned his head, and Hollyleaf saw his burning blue gaze drilling in to her. He knew she was there.

Ashfur's gaze snapped back to the center as a form began shimmering on the ground. Several warriors, who had to be Windclan for their wiry build stepped forward.

"Morningflower." It was a single voice that nontheless came from all the Windclan cats. As the cat materialized, she pulled herself to her feet.

"Where am I? I feel so much better. And my cough is gone!"

Hollyleaf realized that she knew Morningflower, the ancient queen of Windclan. The cat in the center of the circle looked much younger, and seemed to be full of boundless energy. Hollyleaf saw with a jolt that she recognized the cat's markings, the same as the Windclan queen's.

"Tallstar? Why... and Eaglekit!" her enthusiasm faded as something seemed to occur to her.

"Am I dead?"

A murmur swept through the watching cats, and the cat called Tallstar stepped up to Morningflower.

"Death is nothing to fear, Morningflower. And someone here has waited a very long time for you."

A young tom stepped up, eyes glowing with pride, and perhaps a touch of sadness.

"Gorsepaw!"

Morningflower leaped over to him and began covering him in licks.

"Mother." the tom purred. Togther, the Windclan cats stepped away in to the forest, Morningflower in their midst. The rest of the cats dispersed. Hollyleaf's heart raced as Ashfur deliberately turned to her.

Hollyleaf backed away. There was no mistaking the malice in Ashfur's eyes.

Her heart in her throat, Hollyleaf raced off in to the forest. She heard pawsteps thudding behind her. Ashfur grew closer and closer, and then he leaped, pushing her on to her back, with his claws a millimeter from her throat.

Hollyleaf's entire body throbbed with terror. Ashfur leaned down, his blazing eyes a mouselength in front of hers. Then he lifted his chin slightly, revealing the neat bite marks that laced his throat.

"Starclan think's you're dead. Give me one reason not to make their rumors true."

Hollyleaf couldn't speak. She only looked up at him like a cornered mouse.

He leaped off her, light as a bird.

"I'll see you again, Hollyleaf. In the meantime, try to keep your claws clean."

He backed in to the brambles, his eyes blazing out a message of pain and hate.

Hollyleaf scrambled to her feet and fled.

Could she not get out?

Wake up! Wake up, you useless crowfood!

But there was no end to the starry trees.

As she slowed down, in a completely new part of the ethreal forest, she heard more voices ahead.

"What's got Ashfur so upset?"

"He didn't tell anyone. Just ran past me muttering."

"Poor cat. I get the feeling that sometimes his death is as bad as his life was."

Hollyleaf turned away. Ashfur didn't deserve any sympathy.

Come to think of it, why didn't he just kill her there? Why was he just threatening? Hollyleaf clawed her way up a tree and sat in a low-hanging branch. No one would sneak up on her.

As she gazed up at the starry sky, a lurching feeling soaked from her heart down to her paws.

If she was in Starclan, and couldn't get out...

No. She wasn't dead. If she were dead, then why hadn't Starclan come to greet her?

If she were dead, then why had Ashfur threatened to kill her?

But, then, Ashfur had felt so solid when he knocked her over.

Hollyleaf felt like howling to the world around her, but kept her jaws shut tight. No one would find her. She had to make sure of that. As she settled down on the branch, she closed her eyes gently. The tree was swaying gently, and her eyelids were heavy. Before she could settle in to a more comfortable position, the soft sounds of the starry forest faded in to echoes and cat's voices, murmuring all around her.

Her tail started aching, and then her leg, spreading up to her body.

This had to be some evil place of punishment, or she wouldn't hurt so much.

Unless she wasn't dead.

But the most horrible thing was that she didn't know which one was worse.

**By the way, Morningflower actually did die between Sunrise and The Fourth Apprentice. I'm mad because she was an important character in the first series, and I wished that they had mentioned her death, at least. It seems like a rather anticlimactic ending for the legendary queen of Windclan. **

**Review!**

**Please!**


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